donberry

May be a very ignorant question. I have a little over 2 tb of music files, all of them either high res or flac. I will want to listen to music and normally just sort of go thru what I have and decide what I want to listen to then. I may be in the mood for anything, who knows. Thinking about going with a ssd but was wondering - how do I get what I want to listen to on the ssd ? I am thinking that unless I lucked out and the files were already on the ssd, every time I wanted to listen to music, I would have to copy the files to the ssd - fine for the times when I am doing serious critical listening, but more times than not I am just taking a break and want to walk in, pick the songs and go. just curious how you may go about this and maybe a way to automate it. A normal every day listening session for me is 20 songs at a time. I do use a usb 3.0 drive so get good transfer speed as that would be the bottleneck getting them to the ssd, but not sure how long it would take to copy say 20 high res files.\ Just curious - thanks

I know this is an old thread, but ....... First I would just like to say that I am by no means an expert. I just wonder........and I am not even sure if this is feasible, could there be a difference in the sound stage between the 2 players despite the wave forms being beyond human hearing ? This is a poor example, but a whole bunch of people say one can not distinguish a 320 mp3 from a lossless version, but while I have heard mp3's sound good clarity etc wise, to me at least there is an almost immediate noticeable difference in the sound stage, imaging, depth etc. As mentioned it is not a good example because with an mp3 you are losing data so is really an apples to oranges example, but I was just wondering if there could be a difference between players ? I only ask because, to me, the sound stage is really important and I want it as life like as is possible with my system. I am to the point where I am very satisfied with all of my gear, so have now turned my attention to getting the computer set up as good as possible and obviously the player is a very important part and i have been wondering if i should "upgrade" from J river to Jplay. So, while it sure seems like I should just stick to J river, I do wonder if there is any possible way that the sound stage presented by either player could be different ? I do not see how, but i have learned that I am very, very ignorant when it came to digital music and have been trying to learn a whole new skill set. Anyway, was just curious.

firedog, thanks for the suggestion, will check it out. I have obviously played around with the PS Audio a bunch more by now and while I am guessing a usb spdif converter could possibly be all I need, I have come to the conclusion that I need to build a much higher quality audio computer. I am currently using a HP desktop, the P6000 series and the good thing about it is it is pretty much whisper quiet. I need to try a much higher quality coaxial cable, one I have was like $10.00 and I have read they make a huge difference, but I hooked up the PS Audio both ways, coaxial and usb and compared them and the s/pdif was not good, the usb was wayyyy better - and besides barrows, everything I have read says the s/pdif is actually wayyyyy better than the usb so between the cheap cable and built in s/pdif, I have a "problem". I will say, as mentioned everybody says the s/pdif is best on the PS Audio so one I get that squared away I can't even imagine how good (for me) my system is going to sound. I thought I had a pretty decent system, not fantastic, but pretty decent but wow was I wrong. Hooked up the PS Audio and to use an oft over used but now understood phrase, it was like a huge veil was lifted off of my stereo. If I walked in my room blindfolded, I would have thought someone switched systems - it really was that big of a difference. At first I had a hard time actually just listening to the music as I had so much internal dialogue going on, which was basically "wow, wow, wow". I have heard some really expensive systems and even the one at the Ralston Library in Sewanee (HERE) - now I am not saying my system even comes close to systems like this, but if I am sitting in my sweet spot, which is not huge with esl speakers, I think I can be just as happy with what i have. I never thought a system I owned could sound like this, is unbelievable and I have listened to "real" audio for a loooong time - but it turns out I was stuck in midfi land and may have taken a step up the ladder a bit. i am not saying the PS Audio is the be all and end all as I am sure there are better at this price, but I did not think there was going to be this noticeable a difference between a 200-400 entry level dac and one of similar quality as the PS Audio. I had zero plans for any upgrades in 2012 but that has changed and now I am going to turn my attention to putting together a decent audio computer and I could be wrong, but if a step up in dac produced this result, i may up my budget for a converter. Not sure how it could get much better, but i thought that before I added the PS Audio..... I obviously love it.... off to research these forums on putting together the best audio computer for the money and maybe a step up converter wise than what i originally had in mind.

sorry, one more thing - was wondering if you had any suggestions for the usb/s/pdif converter ? While not poor by any means, I am on a fixed income (disabled vet, peacetime warrior) so can't really go out and drop $2k on one like some I have read some rave reviews about, so more in the budget conscious ones, say between $400-$700. I understand that everyone has an opinion and there is no "best" one, but if you could possibly recommend a couple would be appreciated.

barrows - couple of things - I am obviously new to the site so have not yet perused the vast majority of posts, but I really appreciate your responses and how you explain your thoughts. Your responses has led me into some research that I am finding very interesting and will hopefully lead me to a pretty decent digital music system. Basically just wanted to say thanks for the great responses. 2 - you mention Pure Music. I am using a pc of course and Pure Music is a mac thing. I am sort of in a transition mode while I am finishing up my garage to audio room conversion, so right now just for ease of use and also because my system is not set up in the optimum position, I am just using J River with wasapi as the ouput mode. Once the system, mainly the speakers are back to where they should be, I am planning on turning to JPlay and giving it a shot and I see that they now have a plugin for J River. Was wondering if you had any experience with JPlay or using a pc, what do you think delivers the best quality sound ? 3. you said "The facts are, that every one of these types of DACs which I have ever tested, sound much. much better when fed from a low jitter SPDIF source. Even the ESS 9018 with its highly sophisticated ASRC and DPLL jiiter reduction. I do not fully understand the reason for this, as the measured jitter in many of these cases is very low" From my experience with audio, while obviously not as extensive as yours, imo there are more than a few things that just do not make sense from a , lets say normal scientific " stand point, but there have been times when my ears have told me different - that there is a difference. While I always like to know the why of something, if it is within my grasp of knowledge, I do not necessarily base all of my audio decisions on that any more as some things just can not be explained and at times make zero sense - but my ears tell me there is a difference. Some will just put it off as a psychological thing, similar to the placebo effect (which is something I could talk about quite a bit), but my thoughts is it is more than that. Over the last decade or so I became fascinated with quantum physics and the one thing I have gotten from it is we are really pretty much the same as those who thought the earth was flat or the earth was the center of the universe - tho we like to believe we understand pretty much all there is to know about those little electrons flowing thru our systems and cables, I personally think they are actually doing things and reacting in ways that we do not yet know - point being - just because the it can't really be explained from a 'scientific" stand point - in many cases , to me, it is really not that relevant (to a point obviously) - the "proof" is in the ears and in the end that is all i really care about as far as my music goes. When we have things like "spooky action at a distance", as Einstein called non-locality, things being both a particle and a wave until is is actually "observed" (measured), and even observation literally changing the outcome - I am not going to worry too much about why some things can't be explained. Maybe in a 100 years or so they will be able to, but for now, I just want what the ears tells me sounds best.......(my little quantum physics rant for the day) anyway - I think I will be busy for a while researching and digesting the info you have already given me, it really is much appreciated. I don;t wish to be an 'expert", but I do sort of like to know the whys and how to get there if at all possible.....

barrows - thanks so much for the great response. I am headed off to look for a good quality converter now. I did get the PS Audio hooked up and listened to for a few hours today.....can not over state how much I like it.

I want to echo that - thank you for the responses. If u don;t mind bearing with my ignorance one more time... as far as s/pdif - a few more questions. How much of a difference is there between optical or the rca connection ? Also, as far as that goes, is there a difference between a s/pdif output on the motherboard as opposed to a sound card ? If the s/pdif is on the sound card, does that mean it is bypassing the dac on the sound card , thereby still giving you a unprocessed signal until it hits the external dac ? My computer has the RCA s/pdif output on the back of it but I am pretty sure that is coming off the sound card( am obviously going to open her up when i have the time to verify). Looking at the specs of the motherboard, there is a s/pdif connection on it - so - would I get the highest quality, most detailed sound by finding the cable/bracket to the m.b. s/pdif, which would also give me optical capabilities, or is the difference going to be too negligible to matter ? I understand it is entirely associated equipment dependent. While I do not claim to have a super duper audiophile system, what i use can be considered fairly decent - decent enough to start noticing smaller details. Speakers are a pair of ML SL3 with a restored/upgraded Pioneer Spec 2 on the panels with a uber upgraded Bose 1801 amp driving the woofers and a Conrad Johnson PV2AR preamp that has had the balance switch bypassed, the rectifier rebuilt by CJ and all film caps upgraded and my PS Audio D.L. III should be here any minute.......not even close to the class of many, but decent enough to hear differences...... Side note (my legal drugs kicked in and I get verbose, sorry) - I have spent my time and effort getting the main components taken care of and now that I am pretty satisfied with those, I see me spending a whole lot more time here on computeraudiophile educating myself about building a good computer for the lowest rfi/em / noise possible. Once again down the audio rabbit hole........ and again, thanks for taking the time and giving me those great responses, it really is appreciated.

wasn't sure if this should be here or in the dac forum....sorry if the wrong place. I am to the point where my computer is my main source for my music. I just purchased a PS Audio Digital Link III, was shipped out today. Reading some reviews on it, and on other dacs as well, I usually see where they say the s/pdif sounds better to them than the usb and then go on to explain the why's. The one review on the PS Audio said to him it made a pretty big difference - so wanting the best sound possible, it seems I need to switch from using usb to s/pdif, or at least try them both myself and compare. But I am left wondering - for the most part, I believe, s/pdif is normally on the sound card, be it onboard or a pci / pcie card and also people tell me to just get a card with s/pdif if i do not already have it - but doesn;t that mena the sound is getting processed twice - 1st by the computer sound card and then by the external dac, in this case the PS Audio ? It just seems strange to me as I am sort of in the minimalist camp as far as getting the signal processed - the balance switch on my Conrad Johnson has even been bypassed to take that out of the equation. So what am I missing here ? I am apparently wrong, but off the top of my head and without looking into it, I just figured usb 2.0 (for high res music) was the way to go as it was basically coming off the hard drive into my computer - but now that I have looked into it some, seems s/pdif is the way to go - but I can not get my head around it sure seems to me that the signal is being processed 1st by the internal sound card, sent out via the s/pdif to the external dac, processed again and then sent to the preamp..... am I thinking about this way too much ? So if i do not have s/pdif on my computer, can i just get say a M-audio 24/96 card for around $75.00 with the s/pdif on it and use that or is there a better way ? I am just looking for the cleanest signal possible and it seems popular consensus that s/pdif is the way to go... if i have not confused you, could u possibly enlighten me a bit. thanks